If you have a dog and a lawn, you've probably wondered whether using chemical fertilizers, weed killers, and pest control is all that good for your furry friend, who not only walks around with four bare feet, but also sits, lays, and rolls in (and sometimes eats) everything and anything that's on the ground.

In addition to looking for pet-friendly lawn products, here are some all-natural options to try:

• Spread corn gluten meal twice a year - once in spring, once in fall - to prevent the growth of weeds such as clover and dandelion.  (This will not kill existing weeds.)
• Kill weeds in sidewalk cracks using a spray bottle filled with two parts boiling water to one part vinegar.  Note: don't spray vinegar on anything you don't want to kill, and don’t spray it on the soil.  (See related link on homemade weed killers.)
• Mow high - wait until grass is 4 to 5 inches tall and then cut it no shorter than 3 inches.  Leave clippings on your lawn to act as a fertilizer.
• Aerate your lawn with a pitchfork or by foot, wearing aerating sandals.
• Compost your kitchen scraps and use it to fertilize your lawn in the fall (see related link), and overseed thin areas.
• Use Cream of Wheat, Minute Rice, or Malt-O-Meal on ant hills - ants can't digest it, and when they eat it their stomachs will burst.  (Hopefully they go underground to die.)
• Add a teaspoon of dish soap to a gallon of water, and pour into any pools of standing water to destroy mosquito larvae.
• To repel mosquitos, tie a sheet of fabric softener to your clothes, or rub Listerine or Vicks VapoRub on your skin.
• Basil, peppermint, and marigolds are natural insect repellents.

Do you know of any other natural methods for controlling weeds and pests?  Post it in the comment section below.